Widener Students Step into the Political Arena with Very Own Super PAC

What do Dr. Wes Leckrone of Widener’s political science faculty and media personality
Stephen Colbert have in common?

Aside from the easy answer of quick wit and the ability to captivate an audience,
they both started a Super PAC as somewhat of an educational experiment.

Colbert formed "Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow" in 2011 to shed light on
the impact of the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission Supreme Court decision,
which loosened campaign finance rules by allowing corporations to spend unlimited
amounts of money in political advertising to elect or defeat candidates for office.

Leckrone initiated his own Super PAC, "College Students Concerned by College Costs
(CSC3)," during the fall 2012 semester with help from freshmen honors students enrolled
in his introductory American Government course. The students came to the consensus
to focus their Super PAC on the nonpartisan issue of higher education costs. They
then spent the semester researching the issue and developing content for their Super
PAC's website: http://knowyourcollegecosts.org/ and Twitter feed @CSC_Cubed.

"I was interested in using this Super PAC as a way to help the students understand
the election process in a more in-depth and experiential way," said Leckrone. According
to one CSC3 founder, Alfred Hew, a mechanical engineering major, Leckrone's mission
was realized.

"This project certainly changed the way I viewed commercials during the 2012 election
season," said Hew. "I realized that many ads come from Super PACs, and these Super
PACs can do or say pretty much whatever they want because they aren't directly affiliated
with a candidate's campaign. I don't think many viewers realize which ads are from
Super PACs or what a Super PAC even is."

Leckrone said after a semester of being exposed to Super PAC propaganda in the height
of a presidential election, his students came to the conclusion that to have influence
in the political arena, you need money. "Here we are, a group of 14 college students
and one professor, tweeting regularly and working hard to build a website, yet we
have very little influence because we have no money," he said.

Another founding member of CSC3, Tori Remondelli, a mechanical engineering major,
hopes to change that in the future. "We discussed some ideas for fundraising, and
we hope to start this process either in a future class or work with Dr. Leckrone's
other classes to raise money to help this Super PAC grow," he said. "While this Super
PAC is still in its early stages, we eventually hope that it can grow to include students
from other colleges so that we can truly influence legislators who make decisions
that affect the price of a college education."

Leckrone is continuing to use this research conducted by C3C3 founding members this
semester in a new course he is teaching, which is part a collaboration with other
professors and students in education and business in support of a project for the
provost for The New American Colleges & Universities.

"Widener will be focusing on the issue of college costs," Leckrone said. "We will
answer questions about why the cost is increasing, picking up where the students left
off in the fall."

Leckrone's class of 10 students will specifically work on publicizing the Super PAC
through social media by starting a public education campaign. At the end of the semester
students will present their findings to local legislators.

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